Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Navarro wants a lucrative contract and his desire is to remain with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"I want to stay here. I'm happy," Navarro said as the Griz prepared to face the Chicago Bulls tonight in the United Center. "We've lost too many games. It's difficult to understand this situation. It would take two or three years to lose this many games (in Spain). But I want to help this team win games. I don't think anybody likes losing."Navarro will enter the offseason as a restricted free agent. That means the Griz will have about a two-week period to match any offers Navarro receives. There are many people in NBA circles that believe Navarro at least proved he is a midlevel ($5 million per) player with his deft shooting and experience.

Here's my take on it. JCN has proven that he is a capable scorer at the NBA level, displaying an impressive (if streaky) stroke from the perimeter, as well as the ability to get to the lane for his patented floater. He is also a quality ball-handler, giving Steve Nash a dose of his own medicine last week. In fact, when he is in the game with Kyle Lowry, Navarro usually brings the ball up the court and initiates the offense. With all that said, he is 27 years old, so I wouldn't expect him to be signed to more than a 3 or 4 year deal by any team, especially one that is as young as the Grizzlies currently are. I do believe that he is worth $4 million a year though and that a contender would probably be willing to sign him for the full MLE (approx. $5 million a year) if the Grizzlies let him test the market or dragged their feet in getting him resigned. He is also one of the few players who has played at a high level with the best in the world, so his leadership and experience will be valuable to the growth and maturity of this team in the future. I think the Grizzlies will realize that they have a 1st round pick tied to him and either re-sign him themselves or help engineer a sign-and-trade near the draft to acquire another draft pick or veteran contributor.